Synopsis                    return to top
Chapter 30
The commandment to take a census according to each person's enrollment is the first commandment given to Moses in Ki Tissa. Each enrolled Israelite shall pay to compensate the Lord so that no plague shall come upon them. Rules are set down for the amount each person shall pay and the funds are to be assigned for use in the Tent of Meeting.

The next commandment to Moses is to make a laver of copper to be placed between the Tent of Meeting and the altar. Aaron and his sons are to wash their hands and feet before entering the Tent.

Next the recipe for a sacred anointing oil was given that consisted of a selection of spices mixed into pure olive oil. This oil is to be used to consecrate every component of the sanctuary: the Tent of Meeting, the altar, all the utensils together with Aaron and his sons. No one may rub this oil into anyone's body or compound anything like it; this oil is sacred.

A formula for incense was handed down to Moses. It too is comprised of choice spices and compound to exact specifications. This sacred incense was to be placed before the Pact [the tablets] in the Tent of Meeting, when God meets with Moses.

Chapter 31
A certain Israelite named Bezalel was chosen, from among the Israelites for his skill in all crafts, to physically produce all the ritual objects for use in the Tent of Meeting. In the same chapter God proclaims a second, but more complete commandment that the Israelites must keep the Sabbath throughout the ages and as a covenant for all time.  When God finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, He gave him stone tablets engraved with the finger of God.

Chapter 32
Moses was still up on the mountain and the people saw that he was gone a long time. The people grew impatient, so they appealed to Aaron demanding approval to make a god for it seemed that Moses would not return. The Israelites collected all the gold earrings from among the people, melted them, and formed a golden calf to worship. Aaron built an altar before this god and proclaimed the next day to be a festival of the Lord. The next day the people offered up sacrifices, ate, drank and danced.

God then informed Moses that the people have acted contemptibly and he should hurry back down the mountain. God told Moses that they made a molten calf and are worshipping it, and God became so incensed, so angry that intended to destroy the Israelites. But Moses pleaded with God not to destroy His people, but to renounce the punishment he planned.

Moses descended the mountain bearing the two tablets of the Pact. The tablets were God's work and the writing was God's writing. As Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing he became enraged and hurled the tablets to the ground where they shattered. He took the calf, burned it, ground it into powder, mixed it with water and forced the Israelites to drink it.
Moses questioned Aaron what did the people do to him that such sin was brought upon them. Aaron repeated the story as it happened with one variation that the fire now seemed responsible for forming the calf.

The people were now out of control. Moses stood at the gate of the camp and announced that whoever is for the Lord, is to come here. All the Levites came. They were instructed--by Divine command-- to slay brother, neighbor and kin. Some three thousand people fell that day, and Moses demanded that they dedicate themselves, for what they did, that God may bestow a blessing upon them.
The next day Moses went back up to the Lord and confirmed that the people were guilty of a great sin.  He pleaded for the forgiveness of the people with the consideration that if the people are not forgiven, he, Moses, should be erased from God's record. And God responded that only those guilty of the sin will be erased. Now go lead the people to their promised destination. Then the Lord sent a plague upon those people for what they did.

Chapter 33
God submitted a stern rebuke to the people of Israel for their sin, as they set out on their journey. The Tent of Meeting was pitched outside the camp and whenever Moses wished to speak to the Lord directly, he would enter the Tent while the people rose from the places and bowed. Moses presented a problem to God: Moses wished that God lead the way through the journey, and to know the ways of the Lord so he may serve Him better. God consented, and Moses asked to see His presence. The Lord replied that He will allow his presence to pass before Moses, but His face may not be seen; for man may not see Me and live.

Chapter 34
God instructed Moses to carve two new tablets and He will inscribe upon them the words on the one's he shattered. Moses took the tablets he carved and went up on to the mountain. Moses bowed low in homage and pleaded with God for forgiveness and also to accompany the people on their journey. God responded with a new covenant. The Lord will go before the people and destroy all the enemies along the route, but the people must do exactly as the Lord commands.

And the Lord issued a new set of commandments which included the restriction against worshipping other gods, offering the blood of His sacrifice with anything leavened, and not to boil a kid in its mothers milk. He also commanded that they faithfully observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Passover), the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot) and the Sabbath. And God told Moses to write down all these commands and with this He will make a covenant with the people of Israel. Moses remained on the mountain for forty days and forty nights and wrote on the tablets the terms of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.

Moses came down from the mountain bearing the two tablets, his skin all radiant since he had spoken with God. He instructed the Israelites on the laws of the covenant and when he finished speaking he had to place a veil over his face to shield the light of his radiance.

Exodus 31:14-17
You shall keep the sabbath. for it is holy for you. He who profanes it shall be put to death: whoever does work on it, that person shall be cut off from his kin. Six days may work be done, but on the seventh there shall be a sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord: whoever does work on the sabbath day shall be put to death. The Israelite people shall keep the sabbath, observing the sabbath throughout the ages as a covenant for all time: it shall be a sign for all time between Me and the people of Israel. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He ceased from work and was refreshed.
Food for thought:
1. These verses appear right after the laws relating to the construction and the preparation of the Tent of Meeting? What connection do you see between the construction of the Tent and the remembrance of creation, Shabbat?
2. Do you think that the punishment meted out for working on the sabbath is fair?
3. Do you think the Torah means death as we know it or could it be construed on another level of meaning?

Exodus 32:2-4
Aaron said to them, "Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons and your daughters and bring them to me." And all the people took off the gold rings that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. This he took from them and cast in a mold; and made them into a molten calf. And they exclaimed, "This is your god, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!"
Food for thought:
1. Why do you think it was just earrings that Aaron wanted to melt for the golden calf?
2. Why do you think he cast a calf to worship? Was it his idea? Was the calf a deity of some other religion?
3. The golden calf represents one of the great sins of biblical narrative. What was the offense of worshipping a calf?      4. What does sin mean to you? Is sin a subjective value of wrongful behavior or is it a spiritual blemish?

Exodus 32:9-10
The Lord further said to Moses, "I see that this is a stiff-necked people. Now, let me be, that My anger may blaze forth against them and I may destroy them and make of you a great nation.
Food for thought:
1. Why would God want to destroy His chosen people just for one sin?
2. What happened to his promise in Genesis that he would never destroy mankind again?
3. How do you feel about a God who would destroy a nation just for one sin?   How contemptuous was the sin anyway?

Exodus 32:34-35
"Go now, lead the people where I told you. See, My angel shall go before you. But when I make an accounting, I will bring them to account for their sins" Then the Lord made a plague upon the people, for what they did with the calf that Aaron made.
Food for thought:
1. Moses had pleaded with God for forgiveness of the people. If He forgave, as Moses requested, why should God then make an accounting and punish the guilty ones?
2. How serious was what the people did to merit a plague?
3. The Torah doesn't mention what the plague was?  What do you think the people deserved, if anything at all?

Exodus 33:21-23
And the Lord said, "See, there is a place near Me. Station yourself on the rock and, as My presence passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock and shield you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take my hand away and you will see My back; but my face must not be seen"
Food for thought:
1. Since Moses found favor with the Lord, he wanted to get to know His ways. What do you think getting to know God's ways means?
2. Why can't man see God's face? Why only His back?
3. What do you think would happen if a man saw God's face?
4. Can you think of an analogy that would explain this verse better?

Exodus 34:6
The Lord passed before him and proclaimed: "The Lord! the Lord!, a God compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and faithfulness, extending kindness to the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He does not remit all punishment, but visits the iniquity of fathers upon children and children's children, upon the third and fourth generations."
Food for thought:
1. This verse appears in the daily prayer book and also repeated frequently at the Yom Kippur service. If God is as compassionate as he says, why would He want to destroy them or even punish them?
2. How do you understand forgiveness? Is it different than how God might view it? Can you be angry at someone and still forgive him?
3. How would you interpret "visits the iniquity of fathers upon children"? Could it have to do with the consequences of an action falling upon future generations, rather than falling upon us now?

Exodus 34:10
He said: I hearby make a convenant. Before your people I will work such wonders as have not been wrought on all the earth or in any nation; and all the people who are with you shall see how awesome are the Lord's deeds which I will perform for you.
Food for thought:
1. God is basically saying that if the Israelites follow His commandments he will clear the way for them to conquer all the inhabitants of the land so they can reach the Promised land. God had made that deal before; why is He making it again now?
2. Looking ahead a few verses, you will find that this covenant repeats much of what has been commanded before. Why do the Israelites and we need so much repetition? Is God afraid we didn't get it the first time?
3. Do you think this covenant has something to do with the sin of the golden calf?

Exodus 34:27-28
And the Lord said to Moses: Write down these commandments, for in accordance with these commandments I will make a covenant with you and with Israel. And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he ate no bread and drank no water; and he wrote down on the tablets the terms of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.
Food for thought:
1. In Exodus 32:15 the Torah explicitly states that Moses with went down from the mountain with the two tablets. The tablets were God's work. How then can we explain in this verse "and he wrote down on the tablets the terms of the covenant, the Ten Commandments"
2. How come the terms of this covenant is completely different from the Ten Commandments, as we know them?
3. Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights. What do you think is the difference between "on the mountain" and "down below the mountain? What happened up above that was different from down below?

Additional questions to ponder:
1. What is it about the story, a verse, a word that seems to resonate with some aspect of your life?
2. Is there something about the story that rings a bell?
3. Can you recall experiences in your life when you have experienced something similar to this story?
4. How would you describe the characters in the story? Who do you know who's like them?
5. Can you personally identify with any one of the characters in the story? Which one?
6. Can you find a similarity between yourself and all the characters in the story?
 
 

Reflections:
The Rabbis of old would meditate on such questions, sometimes for weeks at a time, to help find deeper meaning in the verses. You may wish to contemplate just one or a few of these questions at a time, rather than tackling them all. In what ways we any of your responses to the questions personally meaningful?

Suggestion:
Some of the questions here are of a personal nature which in some cases could be emotionally upsetting. If so, try relaxing your body as much as possible and takes long slow breaths of air. That usually helps to relieve anxiety.

We would like to know if you find this method of Torah study particularly helpful to you. Click here to let us know 

Creative Midrash on Parashat Ki Tissa                    return to top

Exodus 34:1
The Lord said to Moses, "Carve two tablets of stone like the first, and I will inscribe upon the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you shattered.
 

The Rabbis of old would create parables, stories and narrative connections around such selected verses. What do you see between the lines, the sentences and the letters. The following questions can provide a launch pad upon which to create your own meanings of the Torah.

What were the words that were on the first tablets? The Ten Commandments were uttered in Parshat Yitro, but it says nothing of them written on stone tablets, how could we be sure that the Ten Commandments were what was written on the first tablets? How could we explain that the covenant in Exodus 34 differs radically with the Ten Commandments, yet the Torah calls the written covenant the Ten Commandments? Which set of commandments do you think are more valid, the ones specified in Exodus 34:12-26 or the Ten Commandments as we know them?

Spend some time thinking about these questions. After you mentally process them for a day or two, it could be helpful to record your conclusions in a journal. It's not important to have correct answers; it's more important to wrestle with the narrative. In time this process can teach you to change many of your unproductive thoughts and beliefs for new ones that work more effectively.